Games Of Fate
by Beregond5
Summary: G1. Sometimes, a simple twist of fate is all that it takes to win it all... or lose it all.
1. The Battle

"Hey, Skydive! Catch!"

Skydive lifted his gaze from his datapad in mild surprise. The basketball hit him between his optics with such force that the black Aerialbot got knocked out of his chair.

"Ow…" he said mournfully, rubbing the sore spot in an attempt to ease his pain. He looked up at his siblings indignantly. "Blast it, Slingshot! Are you out of your mind?"

"Hey, it's not my fault if you have such poor reflexes," Slingshot said defensively. He picked up the basketball and started dribbling it loudly. "Besides, it's about time you put that datapad down. Come on, let's play! Air Raid could use another teammate."

Air Raid, who was at the other side of the common room with Fireflight, nodded emphatically.

"I'd rather not," Skydive replied coolly, and got back on his feet. "Where did you find that ball anyway?" he asked.

"That green guy that transforms into a jeep, Hound, had it. I asked him if we could play with it, so he lent it to us," Slingshot replied.

"Yeah, he's cool like that," Fireflight seconded. "Although," at that he scratched his head in thought, "He gave it to us on the condition that we wouldn't get spotted by Prowl or… what was the other thing again?"

"Play indoors, I suppose?" Skydive pointed out.

Fireflight blinked as realisation dawned on him. "Oh, right."

"Bah! Relax, Skydive! What could possibly go wrong?" Air Raid said, grabbing the ball from Slingshot's hand.

"Hey!" the Harrier jet said, "Give that back!"

"Come and get it!" Air Raid declared with a grin and ran off as fast as his feet could carry him. Slingshot took him up to that challenge and lunged at Air Raid, tackling him forcefully on the ground.

"Ha! I win!" Slingshot said smugly, his hands reaching for his sibling's. "Now hand over the ball."

"Wait, wait!" Air Raid replied, checking himself. "I don't have it! It rolled away while we--"

"Looking for this?" a voice said out of the blue.

All four Aerialbots turned around and winced when they saw Prowl. The second-in-command was currently standing at the doorway, holding the basketball and looking back at them quite sternly.

"Care to explain how Hound's basketball came into your possession?" he asked, raising an optic ridge.

Slingshot scratched his head in an embarrassed manner. "Well, uh… you know, that's a funny story…"

"Really?" Prowl said, not believing the small Aerialbot even for a second.

"Yeah," Air Raid replied. "You see--"

Neither Air Raid nor Slingshot got the chance to answer, for Teletraan I's alarm system went off at that very moment.

"Alert. Alert," the mechanical voice sounded through the speakers. "All available Autobot personnel please rally to the control room."

Prowl shook his head and put the ball in subspace before casting a cool glance at the four Aerialbots.

"You may consider yourselves fortunate for the present," he said. "Now proceed to the main control room at once."

"Yes, Sir!" the Aerialbots said. They stood in attention and saluted the second-in-command, a gesture that made Prowl simply huff and turn around. After all, if there was an emergency, his services would be required as well.

"Prick," Slingshot muttered as soon as Prowl was out of sight.

"Shh! He'll hear you!" Skydive exclaimed in a hiss.

"And do what? Ground me?" Slingshot said, snorting. "They need _all _five of us to get them out of their messes."

"Their messes are _our _messes too, Slingshot. Remember that," Skydive said. "Now come on. Silverbolt is probably already waiting for us in the control room."

* * *

Just as Skydive had said, Silverbolt was in the control room, and he wasn't alone. Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Prowl were there as well, their expressions serious and business-like.

"Well, it was about time you showed up," Ratchet said when he noticed the four Aerialbots coming in.

"Geeze, relax, doc," Air Raid said. "Where's the fire?"

"The 'fire', as you so eloquently put it, is right there," the medic replied, pointing at Teletraan I. There was the image of a dock on the monitor, as well as several yellow dots flashing brightly. "Teletraan I picked up a distress signal from a nearby dock on the west coast."

"And what are those?" Fireflight asked, looking at the blinking dots curiously.

"The Stunticons," Optimus Prime said. "According to Teletraan I, there are several tankers anchored at that dock. That means the Decepticons are after the oil inside those tankers."

Prowl nodded in affirmation. "Ironhide, Brawn, Huffer and Wheeljack are already at the site of the attack, but reinforcements are required. If the Stunticons form into Menasor, the damages on property and human life could be disastrous."

"Say no more," Silverbolt said, understanding what Prowl was implying. "We'll head out now."

"Good," Optimus said. "But keep any damages at the area to a minimum and don't form Superion unless you absolutely have to."

"Understood, Sir," Silverbolt replied with a nod and turned to his teammates. "All right, Aerialbots. Let's go."

"What else is new?" Slingshot muttered. Nevertheless, he followed his siblings outside and transformed to his Harrier mode, eager to battle.

* * *

"Are you all right there, Silverbolt?" Skydive transmitted, focusing his optic sensors on the Aerialbot leader. Silverbolt's flight didn't seem smooth anymore, and Skydive couldn't help but feel concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Silverbolt transmitted back, though his voice sounded weak.

"Right. You're getting dizzy again, aren't you?" Slingshot asked. If he could, he would eye Silverbolt in an accusing manner.

"Lay off him, Slingshot. What's your problem?" Skydive said, regretting that he couldn't glare at his sibling in his Falcon mode.

"My problem, as you well know, Skydive, is having to put up with an air commander who can't actually stay up in the air for three seconds without feeling sick," Slingshot declared indignantly, "If the Seekers ever find out about this, we'll become the laughing stock of the entire Decepticon faction."

"They won't find out about it if you stop naggingabout it," Skydive argued.

"Stop it, both of you. We have more important things to deal with at present," Silverbolt ordered, his voice firmer than before. "And, Fireflight, get back in formation. You're lagging behind again."

"Sorry," Fireflight said, and increased his speed in order to catch up with the others. "So, are we there yet? Things certainly look quiet around here."

"Not anymore!" Air Raid said, focusing ahead. "Party at twelve o'clock!"

The rest of the Aerialbots looked ahead, only to see that Air Raid was right. They could clearly see the light of laser-fire in the distance, where a battle was taking place.

"I'd better contact the Autobots," Silverbolt said and opened his communication frequencies. "This is Silverbolt. Come in, Ironhide. Do you read?"

"Ironhide here. Care to explain what took you so long?" the veteran's voice sounded from the other side of the link.

"Better late than never, Ironhide. What's the situation?"

"We're pinned down so far," Ironhide answered in a grim tone. "Huffer and Wheeljack are dealing with Drag Strip, and Brawn and I are a little busy with Wildrider." The deafening sound of a blaster gun almost pierced Silverbolt's audio sensors, and it was followed by a string of curses.

"Ironhide, are you all right?" Silverbolt asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the veteran Autobot replied gruffly. "Just handle the other Stunticons."

"Copy that, Ironhide. We've just got visual on them." Indeed, Silverbolt could see Motormaster, Breakdown and Dead End on one of the tankers, filling energon cubes. "We'll make things easier for you now. Silverbolt out."

"Heh… Four Autobots can't handle two Stunticons. Could it be more pathetic?" Slingshot said as soon as Silverbolt ended the transmission.

"Quiet, Slingshot! You know that the Stunticons have force fields!" Skydive said. "The Autobots are still doing everything they can."

"Look, all I'm saying is that if the old-timers can't take the heat, they should stay out of it," Slingshot retorted.

"That's enough, Slingshot," Silverbolt said edgily.

"Yeah, it's time to bust some Stunticon caboose anyway!" Air Raid intervened in a cheery tone.

It was then, however, that Motormaster, Breakdown and Dead End heard the Aerialbots' engines and started firing at them.

"Disperse and start evasive manoeuvres!" Silverbolt ordered, already spinning around so that the laser-fire didn't hit him.

"They're really not happy to see us," Fireflight noted, following Silverbolt's example.

"The feeling's mutual," Slingshot said. "Let's see if they'll like the taste of my--"

"Negative. We can't retaliate when they're so close to the energon," Silverbolt said.

"What are you talking about?" Slingshot exclaimed. "I've got them on target lock!"

"I said no, Slingshot, and that's an order," the air commander said. "If we want to fight them, we'll have to go through a different route."

"Which one?" Skydive asked.

"This one!" Surprisingly, Silverbolt started rising upwards, flying to the direction of the sunlight. In moments, he had rendered himself practically invisible, since the powerful beams of the sun blinded anyone who tried to locate the Aerialbot.

Air Raid was the first to catch on.

"Now you're talking _my_ language!" he declared, and started gaining altitude as well. "And just so you know, I've got dibbs on Breakdown."

"Noted," Silverbolt said. "Just don't crash again."

"That happened only once!" Air Raid objected.

"This year…" Skydive muttered, flying closely behind the other two Aerialbots.

"I heard that!"

There was no time for any further argument though. Silverbolt plummeted towards the ground, thus giving the signal for the rest of the team to attack as well. By the time the three Stunticons could locate the Aerialbots and realise what they were up to, the latter were already onto them. Silverbolt and Skydive transformed and tackled Motormaster, while Slingshot and Fireflight tackled Dead End. As for Air Raid, he charged at Breakdown.

All Transformers ended up in the water with a loud splashing sound. The three Stunticons were certainly not pleased about that, and they tried to grab any of the Aerialbots they could lay their hands on even while still in the water, but the Aerialbots were faster. They transformed and used their thrusters to the maximum setting so that they blasted off the water.

"Okay, that's three of them, two more to go," Slingshot declared, his grin audible in his voice.

"I wouldn't count on it, we've only slowed them down," Silverbolt said. He directed his optic sensors to the ground and gasped at what he saw. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Fireflight asked, not really understanding the reason behind the air commander's alarm.

"Ironhide's down!"

Sure enough, the veteran Autobot was on his knees, his torso looking as though a great mecha-bear had ripped it to shreds. Tubes, relays, even a whole console, were left exposed, hanging from just a few feeble cables; fluid was gushing all over Ironhide and on the ground. Even so, Ironhide still struggled to get back on his feet and keep fighting. Wheeljack apparently noticed Ironhide's predicament, for he hurried to the red mech's aid. Dragstrip and Wildrider noticed that and they aimed their weapons at the engineer, ready to shoot him while he was distracted.

"We've got to help them!" Silverbolt said.

"Uh… Brawn and Huffer seem to be in control of things," Skydive said.

A quick surveillance on the ground showed what Skydive was talking about. Both minibots charged at the Stunticons with such speed and force that neither Wildrider nor Drag Strip knew what hit them. And before they even got the chance to recover, the minibots lifted both Stunticons up in the air as though they weighed nothing and threw them over the pier.

"Whoa…" Fireflight said before he could help it. "Did I ever mention I'm glad those guys are on _our _side?"

Silverbolt was far from comforted though. To his horror, he realised that all five Stunticons were in the water and that meant one thing.

Menasor.

"Silverbolt to Brawn. You'd better clear the area. Do you read?"

"Brawn here. Heard you loud and clear, kid," the tough minibot said. "We'll get Ironhide under some safe cover so Wheeljack can do the emergency repairs. You show them what you've got."

"We intend to, Brawn. Silverbolt out," the air commander replied, noticing how the water started swirling wildly. A loud growl reached his audios and, moments later, all the Aerialbots saw Menasor surface from the water. The giant Decepticon instantly locked his optics on the five airplanes.

"MENASOR DESTROY!"

Fireflight looked as though he was ready to drop on the ground. "That's… not good."

"The game's not lost yet," Silverbolt declared, rising his nose up in the air. "Time to form Superion!"

"Wait, I have a better idea!" Slingshot said, diving towards the energon cubes. "If they want that energon that badly, let's let them have it!"

"Slingshot, no!"

Skydive's warning was to no avail. The Harrier jet already opened the flaps to his cargo hold and scooped several energon cubes inside him.

"Slingshot, abandon current course of action and return to formation. That's an order!" Silverbolt said.

"Not this time, _Sir,_" Slingshot replied. "I've got Menasor in my sights."

"Slingshot!"

Slingshot just turned off all his communication frequencies and flew even closer to Menasor. The giant mech saw him and tried to catch him with both hands, but, thankfully, Slingshot was fast enough to stay out of Menasor's grasp.

That, however, only angered Menasor more.

"MENASOR SMASH BUG!"

"I don't think so!" Slingshot said, now flying dangerously close to the enormous face. "The bug is about to show how bad it can sting!"

With that, he released the energon cubes, then fired at them in mid-air. The last thing Slingshot registered was the deafening roar of an explosion and the sensation of smouldering heat surrounding him.

**To Be Concluded...**


	2. The Talk

Slingshot onlined his optics with a grunt of discomfort. He was a bit baffled to find himself staring at an orange ceiling, but when he heard a steady beeping sound to his left, he realised that he was in the repair-bay, attached to some kind of machine.

"Hey, look who's decided to join the world of the functioning!"

Slingshot slowly turned his head. He smiled at the sight of Air Raid, who was standing a little farther away with a huge grin on his face. Fireflight and Skydive were next to him, a look of relief on their optics. Silverbolt, on the other hand, was leaning against a wall, keeping his arms crossed and his head bowed. He didn't look in Slingshot's direction.

It didn't take long for Slingshot's memories to catch up with him.

"Did it work?" he asked curiously.

"Definitely," Air Raid answered. "Menasor's optics got so badly damaged at the explosion that the Stunticons had no choice but to separate and retreat."

Slingshot couldn't help but feel pleased with himself. His lip components tugged to a smug expression. "Well, it's a shame I got caught in the blast. I'll have to be faster next time."

"Correction, Slingshot. There won't be a next time."

Slingshot turned to look at Silverbolt. The air commander was still leaning against the wall, except he was now positively glaring at the Harrier jet.

"Don't tell me you're upset, Silverbolt," Slingshot said indignantly.

"Upset?" Silverbolt echoed. "No, not upset. I'm downright _furious!_" The low tone increased steadily in volume, until Silverbolt was all but shouting. "Why the slag did you disobey direct orders?"

Skydive, Fireflight and Air Raid winced at that outburst, for they had never heard their commander so angry before. Slingshot was hardly fazed.

"Someone had to take care of Menasor," he replied coolly.

"And _we _would… as Superion! But that would have been impossible if you had gotten yourself killed!"

"Well, I didn't get killed and I got the job done, so get off my back!"

"No, I won't!" Silverbolt strode at the healing Aerialbot's side and poked him on the chest plate. "Whether you like it or not, you'repart of a team, so you'd better start acting like one. What happens to you can put the rest of us in danger. You'd better think about it while staying in the brig."

Slingshot gaped at Silverbolt, not believing his audios. "What?"

"You heard me," Silverbolt said, his optics narrowing. "As soon as Ratchet gives you permission to leave the repair-bay, you're going straight to the brig for insubordination."

"You can't do that!" Slingshot exclaimed.

"Guess what. I just did," Silverbolt replied, his voice icy-cold, and then walked out of the repair-bay without another word.

Skydive watched the air commander leave, then looked at his siblings uneasily. "I'd better go talk to him."

"You'll do nothing of the sort!" Slingshot growled. "If he wants to be a jerk, let him be a jerk on his own."

"He's still our sibling, Slingshot," Skydive said softly. "And I hate to break it to you, but he is right. You did disobey orders."

The F-16 didn't even wait for Slingshot's rude response. He hurried after Silverbolt, hoping to talk him out of his anger.

* * *

Silverbolt proved true to his word. When Ratchet finally deemed that Slingshot was more or less fixed and sent him over to Optimus, Optimus in turn ordered the Twins to take the Harrier jet into the brig. Slingshot tried to protest even as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker escorted him outside the Autobot leader's office, but Optimus simply exchanged a glance with Silverbolt and did nothing. Both commanders had already agreed that Slingshot went too far this time, and they couldn't go easy on him. So, Slingshot was now in the brig, muttering under his breath while pacing up and down the small, miserable room with quite the scowl on his features.

"Miserable, stiff-minded, uptight, _height-hating…_"

"I take it you're mad at Silverbolt?"

Slingshot stopped in his tracks and turned to the direction of the voice. He wasn't sure at first why Ironhide, an officer, was the one that guarded him, sitting on a chair with his arms and legs crossed in a relaxed manner. But then he spotted the numerous grey patches on the red chest plate and waist, and everything made sense. Slingshot was witnessing part of the so-called "arrangement".

Let it be said that the first thing Slingshot learnt when he arrived with his siblings at the Ark two years ago was that Ironhide _never_ wanted to abandon his duties, whether it was a patrol or a sparring session or even another battle with the Decepticons; not even when all his limbs were blown to smithereens and his spark was hanging outside its casing by a single powerline. In fact, whenever Ratchet ordered Ironhide to rest, Ironhide simply stood up and walked out the repair-bay as though nothing was wrong whatsoever. Of course, that always triggered some very epic arguments between the two oldest residents in the Ark, which had the rest of the Autobots cringe and Smokescreen placing bets on how long each argument would last _this_ time.

In the end, however, Optimus and Prowl decided that such a routine was becoming quite tiresome, so they gave Ratchet and Ironhide the chance to work things out through a different angle. Whenever Ironhide was injured, he would take up any of the less tiring duties inside the Ark so Ratchet could still keep an eye on him. Neither Ironhide nor Ratchet seemed all that pleased, nevertheless they grumbled their consent. It had been six months since then and, from the looks of it, the compromise worked fine. There were fewer arguments and less tension in the air, that was for certain.

And now, apparently, Ironhide's duty was to guard Slingshot in the brig. Not only that, the old-timer was in the mood for some idle chatting. Joy.

"Gee, however did you guess?" Slingshot answered flatly and resumed with his angry pacing. "I bet the whole Ark is buzzing with the news too. You just wait, there will soon be flocks of Autobots waltzing in here just to point at me and laugh."

"If you believe that, you've got a lot more to learn than I thought, young 'un," Ironhide said, shaking his head. "You're not bein' punished. You're just offered some time to cool down and do some thinkin'."

"Oh yeah? It looks to me like Silverbolt needs that thinking session more than I do. I do some good and _this,_" with that, he pointed at the brig, "is his thanks."

Ironhide leaned backwards, resting his head against the wall. "What you did was reckless and irresponsible, kid. Did you seriously expect Silverbolt to be pleased with you?"

"Primus, not you too," Slingshot huffed. "I don't need a lecture."

"I know you don't," Ironhide said softly. "I'm just hopin' you won't have to learn how different things could have played out."

Slingshot faced the veteran Autobot again, looking at him sceptically. "What are you talking about?"

Ironhide sighed and closed his optics. "It doesn't matter."

The Harrier jet didn't want to admit it, but he felt his curiosity piqued.

"No, come on, tell me. It's not like I'm going anywhere any time soon."

Ironhide opened one of his optics and looked back at the Aerialbot. "You sure about that?"

Slingshot answered by sitting cross-legged on the floor. "I'm all audios, old mech."

Ironhide nodded his acknowledgment and closed his optics again, seeing in his mind the tale that started flowing out of his lips.

"When the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons first broke out, there were a lot of Cybertronians who enlisted in either of the two factions, wishin' to make a difference in their own way. Among them was a mech who was past his prime, but as eager to fight the Decepticons as any of the younger mechs that were with him… and tougher than most of them. I suppose that was why he was accepted within the Autobot ranks without much fuss and placed in a battle unit from day one."

Slingshot cocked his head. "I don't see what that has got to do with me."

Ironhide half-opened his optics again, glaring at the Harrier jet. "You want to hear the story or not?" he asked gruffly.

Slingshot caught himself flinching at the reprimand. "Sorry. Go on."

The veteran Autobot pursed his lips momentarily in thought, then closed his optics again.

"As I said, the old mech was placed in one of the best Autobot defence units, which had the duty to protect the western perimeter of Altihex. His teammates were wary of him at first, but they soon warmed up to him and they even started thinkin' of him as a lucky charm of sorts. On the other hand, the old mech treated his teammates like the protoforms he never had, always watchin' out for them and keepin' them close to his spark. With a unit that tight, one would probably think nothin' could go wrong."

Slingshot, who was swiftly becoming bored, sat up at those words. "Did something happen?" he asked before he could help it.

Ironhide's voice became eerily cold, sending a chill to Slingshot's spark.

"One of the battles proved tougher than the old mech's unit expected. No matter how hard they tried to hold the walls of Altihex, the Decepticons kept attackin' again and again, until the unit had no choice but to retreat. The old mech meant to stay close to his teammates, intendin' to offer them back up as they all fell back. But, to his horror, he realised he had left his rifle behind. Before even thinkin' of what he was doin', the old mech rushed back to get his rifle before the area was overrun by Decepticons. His commander called at him to forget about the rifle, that it was too late and that they all had to leave that instant. But the old mech didn't listen. He needed that rifle to protect himself and his friends and he was goin' to get it, no matter what. So he broke away from the unit."

"Well, he did the right thing," Slingshot said.

"Did he?" Ironhide asked. He opened his optics and sat up, his expression unreadable. "When the old mech fell back, his teammates had to wait for him, for leavin' him behind wasn't an option; they were a team. As they stopped on their tracks, a plasma bomb fell on them and wiped them all out." A mirthless chuckle escaped Ironhide's lip components. "Eleven lives for the price of a rifle."

Slingshot didn't speak for a long time, unsure of what to say. In the end, he found the strength to ask the first thing that came to his mind.

"What happened to the old mech?"

Ironhide sighed, his optics reflecting his sorrow. "He got his shoulder burned. But he still lives to tell the story and regret."

Slingshot bit back a gasp as realisation caught up with him.

"Hold on, you didn't do anything wrong!" he exclaimed. "You didn't abandon your teammates out of spite or because you were a coward! You wanted to protect them and you needed your rifle to do that! Nobody could blame you for that!"

"Nobody did," Ironhide said. "It made no difference."

Slingshot understood. "You blamed yourself."

Ironhide's lips tugged to a wan smile. "A good friend of mine told me to learn to live with my mistake. He says I've already saved more lives to make up for what I've done. But the truth of the matter is: knowing that you caused the death of eleven mechs you considered your friends isn't a stroll in the park, kid. And if it was difficult for me, I hate to think how difficult it could have been for you if you had lost one of your siblings… or all of them."

Only then did everything become clear to Slingshot. When he broke from the rest of the group, he left everyone else exposed to Menasor's rage. Menasor could have easily seen his opportunity to go after Slingshot's siblings rather than Slingshot himself. Since four Aerialbots couldn't form Superion, none of them would have stood a chance, and Slingshot would have lost his siblings just because he had considered himself above orders. Precisely what Silverbolt already understood and thus became so enraged.

_Primus, could I have been so blind? So stupid?_

His limbs trembled with fury. Tears of frustration sprang up in his optics, but Slingshot wasn't angry at Silverbolt anymore. He was angry with himself.

"Blast it…" he breathed out, wiping the tear streaks with a huff. "I acted like a real jerk, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. But I forgive you."

Slingshot snapped his head up, looking in disbelief at the tall white figure that stood at the other end of the energon cells.

"Silverbolt? What are you doing here?"

"What do you think? I figured I should come and see you," Silverbolt answered, sitting cross-legged as well so he could talk to Slingshot face to face. "How are you?"

Slingshot shook his head with a sigh. "I've been better."

"I don't doubt it," the air commander said softly. "I didn't want this."

"You had every right to be angry, I understand that now," Slingshot said in reassurance.

"That doesn't give me an excuse," Silverbolt insisted. "I shouldn't throw you in the brig just because you don't agree with me. As your commander, I should give you more than enough reasons to trust my judgement. What you did yesterday was proof that you don't trust me at all, and I know that it has to do with my fear of heights."

Slingshot said nothing. He simply averted his gaze.

"Slingshot… I can't promise you I'll stop being afraid of flying. It's part of who I am. That's why I ask you to have faith in me. I'm your sibling and your teammate above all else. I'd rather die before I let anything happen to you. My orders might not always sound right to you, I can accept that. But if you think, at any moment, that I'm not having our team's welfare in mind, just tell me. Don't act recklessly. Are we clear?"

That Harrier jet nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Good." The Concorde opened his communication frequencies. "Optimus, this is Silverbolt. I request permission to remove Slingshot from the brig."

"Are you sure about this, Silverbolt?" Optimus' voice sounded from the other end of the link.

Silverbolt exchanged glances with Slingshot. "Yes, I'm sure."

There was a momentary pause, a sign that Optimus contemplated matters.

"Very well. You can let him out."

"Thank you, Optimus. Silverbolt out." With that, the air commander ended his transmission and faced Ironhide. "Can you switch off the cells?"

"You don't have to ask," the veteran Autobot said. Without bothering to get up, he pressed the button to cut the power and the cells vanished with a light buzzing sound.

Slingshot stood up, though he hesitated to get out at first. Finally, he stepped out and followed Silverbolt to the exit with a small smile. Just before he disappeared through the door, he turned to Ironhide and bowed his head slightly as a form of thanks.

Ironhide smirked and waved his hand, thus answering in his own way: "Yeah, sure. Now get outta here."

* * *

"I know that look. But I have to admit I haven't seen it in a while."

Ironhide lifted his gaze, managing a tired smile. "Heya, doc. Came to check up on me?"

Ratchet nodded. "Among other things. Such as why you're still in the brig, way past your guarding duties. Everyone started to worry that something might have happened to you."

"Nah, I was just doin' some thinkin' and didn't realise the passin' of time," Ironhide replied.

Ratchet's optics reflected his frown. He pulled up a chair and sat across from the veteran Autobot, looking at him with quite the scrutiny.

"You're holding your shoulder awkwardly. Odd, considering there was nothing wrong with it this time."

Ironhide said nothing. He didn't plan on making things easy for the medic.

"You remembered Parsec and the others, didn't you?"

There was silence again.

"I told you to live with it," Ratchet said.

"You did," Ironhide admitted. "But something tells me they would have wanted me to tell their story."

Ratchet stared at Ironhide in surprise, but decided not to inquire any further. He only made one question.

"Why now?"

Ironhide shrugged. "Because maybe their deaths won't be so meaningless anymore."

It was enough as an answer. Standing up, Ratchet patted his friend's shoulder and then walked out, leaving Ironhide alone with his memories.

**The End.**


End file.
